I reviewed Heroes, and I followed Heroes Reborn on my weekly lineup during its brief run, but I never really reviewed the latter show as a whole. I think it’s time I fixed that!

Heroes Reborn is the continuation, and conclusion, of the Heroes saga, so a science fiction story following normal people with superpowers. It follows multiple protagonists through interweaving plots all centered around an impending doomsday event. The crux of the conflict is between the heroes who want to save the world on one side, and on the other, an evil corporation that wants to save only themselves, and, also, use the world’s ending to recreate human civilization in their own image. This, while the heroes are simultaneously dealing with a society that fears and hates them, and also with their own personal issues, most of them just wanting to fit in and lead normal lives. There’s action, adventure, drama, suspense, humor, and more.

It does get a little campy at times, and for wrapping up so many endings from the previous series, it stumbles a little with it’s own conclusion. By that, I mean that so many characters are brought back and their fates are sealed, we know the end of their story. Not all of them, mind you, but several of them. Yet, the first show did choose a very good moment to end on, as it did with nearly every season, and the story could have ended there. Reborn, by contrast, wrapped everything up just in time to declare that things weren’t over yet, cutting the tied-off threads loose again. It basically ends with an enticement for more, and it’s unlikely to ever deliver.

That said, I generally like the show. In particular, I like how it tells a single story. It may have many moving parts in many places, but it’s not episodic, and it’s not rambling without direction. It’s focused. It has a concrete goal. It has somewhere to go and knows how to get there, and whatever twists and turns and scenic routes it needs to take to get there, it drives straight for its destination as effectively as possible. The result is a gripping tale that delivers an apocalyptic climax, as opposed to the struggling, semi-coherent plot of its predecessor.

I also love the characters. The next generation of heroes is so innocent. It’s a powerful contrast against the heavy guilt, petty selfishness, or flat-out craziness of the people they encounter, let alone the cunning and guile of scheming masterminds. Heck, even other heroes, the elder generation, are burdened with the weight a desperate struggle, a fight that claims many of their lives, with the fate of humanity at stake. And yet, far from being weakened by their innocence, the younger heroes are strengthened by how they choose to hold to it and save the world. They may be young, but they are warriors. They are heroes.

This is probably the shortest review I’ll ever write, but it’s a pretty short series, and one that succeeds the previous show, so there’s not much to say without spoiling it. (which, technically, I did plenty of when I was commenting on it every week…)

I enjoyed Heroes Reborn, flaws notwithstanding. It may be the best part of the entire franchise, and I do wish that they could have continued it somehow. But, alas, it seems that shall not be the case.